A brainchild of the Su That (Truth) National Political Publishing House and Omega Plus Company, Nan Doi nam 1945 o Viet Nam: Nhung Chung Tich Lich Su (1945 Famine in Vietnam: Historical Evidence), was compiled by Vietnamese Professor Van Tao (former Rector of Vietnam History Institute) and Japanese Prof Futura Motoo (Chairman of Japan’s Southeast Asia Studies Association).
The work comes about from three large-scale surveys, in 1992, 1993-1994, 1994-1995, in 23 areas of 21 provinces and cities from Quang Tri to the north.
The authors have done the research and direct examinations in areas and met with witnesses to get a comprehensive understanding of the famine.
The book aims to provide the most sufficient and systematic information on the loss and pain that Vietnamese people have endured in history.
According to statistics from the book, in Tay Luong commune (Tien Hai, Thai Binh province today), the famine killed two-thirds of the population, including whole families.
Associate Professor Dinh Quang Hai, Rector of Vietnam History Institute, said the research on the 1945 famine furthered the backlash against fascism and the cruelty of the wars, promoting a message of peace and positive relations between countries and peoples.
“This is important in the context that Vietnam is implementing independent and self-control external policies for peace, coordination and development,” Hai said. “Vietnam is willing to be a friend, a trustworthy partner and a responsible member of the international community, making contributions to the cause of peace, independent people, democracy and progressive society in the world.”
“The work remembers the two million people that lost their lives (the population of Vietnam was 20 million people then); the causes of the famine and its serious consequences,” he said.
“The book proves that the famine in 1945 in Vietnam was a result of Japan's fascist policy to cruelly rob and exploit Vietnamese people,” he said./.
